Google, Intersect Power break ground on Meitner Energy Center in Texas
In brief
- Meitner Energy Center groundbreaking: Google and Intersect Power begin construction in Gray and Roberts Counties near Pampa, Texas
- Facility pairs over 1 gigawatt of wind, solar, and battery storage with new Google computing infrastructure
- Air cooling system eliminates water withdrawals entirely, reducing environmental impact
- Construction expected to support up to 3,500 jobs through Caprock Workforce Hub
A New Model for Data Center Infrastructure
The Meitner Energy Center represents a departure from how the industry typically builds. Most data centers are built first and then paired with renewable energy contracts after the fact. By building generation and consumption together, the facility avoids the transmission losses and grid congestion issues that plague remote renewable energy purchases.
The project's engineering also addresses one of the sector's growing pain points. The facility uses an air cooling system instead of traditional water-based cooling, eliminating the need for water withdrawals entirely. This matters because water demand from data centers is accelerating. Microsoft's global water consumption jumped 34% in fiscal year 2022, largely driven by data center expansion. Google's decision to engineer water out of the equation at Meitner may signal a broader industry shift toward water conservation in data centers.
The Acquisition and Timeline
Alphabet announced its acquisition of Intersect Power on December 22, 2025, in a deal valued at $4.75 billion in cash plus debt assumption. The move formalized a strategic partnership that had been solidified in December 2024.
Intersect originally proposed the Meitner project concept in 2013, more than a decade before construction finally began. That long gestation period underscores the complexity of permitting and coordinating renewable energy infrastructure at scale.
Jobs and Legacy
Construction is expected to support up to 3,500 jobs through what's being called the Caprock Workforce Hub, located in adjacent Wheeler County. The project's name pays tribute to Lise Meitner, the Austrian-Swedish physicist who helped discover nuclear fission but was overlooked for the Nobel Prize — a reminder that innovation often goes unrecognized.
